[Moses continues:] When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume the name of his dead brother, so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel. Deuteronomy 25:5-6

He has remembered His covenant forever...the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance."

Psalm 105:8-11

Judaism and Christianity

What common belief forms the fundamental foundation of both Judaism and Christianity? For the answer, read this encouraging article by the late Orthodox Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, "Growing in Our Understanding of God.". In view of what Rabbi Eckstein said, you might want to follow this by reading my little introduction to this Web site. (June 9, 2014)

The "Messiah Studies" on This Web Site

Summary Papers: short, concise summaries of important topics in the study of Messianism.

Messiah in the Tanakh: in-depth, technical studies of Messianic passages in the Tanakh. This Web site is a work in progress; papers are added as they are completed.

The Future of Israel

The menu item, "Future of Israel," contains three articles on the subject of the future of the nation of Israel according to the prophets. More articles will be added, so please check back regularly. (February 13, 2014)

Items of Interest

Joseph Frey: Back in June, 2015, we posted Volume I of Joseph and Benjamin: A Series of Letters on the Controversy Between Jews and Christians (1840). We have now added Volume II. Both are complete books of over 400 pages each. Also, both volumes are written in a careful, logical, and loving manner to the author's Jewish brethren and together cover virtually every issue on whether Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel. Frey is both a Hebrew and Rabbinic scholar and frequently cites Rabbinic sources, both ancient and modern. (September 4, 2015)

Alexander McCaul: The book, The Messiahship of Jesus (1852), by Alexander McCaul, is possibly the best book I have read on Messianic prophecy. He does argue that the Messianic prophecies point to fulfillment by Yeshua (Jesus), but in his discussions he gives considerable attention to the Jewish objections to Christian interpretations of these prophecies. He also argues for a literal fulfillment of the prophecies dealing with the future of national Israel and forcefully critiques that segment of Christian theology (replacement theology and amillennialism) that sees no future for Israel in an ethnic and national sense. (February 17, 2014)

David Baron: According to David Baron, "[Isaiah 53] is the heart and centre of all Old Testament prophecy." The complete book by Baron on Isaiah 53, The Servant of Jehovah: The Sufferings of the Messiah and the Glory That Should Follow (1922), is now posted. The first part of the book contrasts the ancient and modern Jewish interpretations, while the second is a verse-by-verse exegesis of 52:13-53:12. The concluding appendix, "The Suffering Messiah of the Synagogue," cites passages from the Targum of Jonathan, the Talmud, and the Midrashim that address Isaiah 52:13-53:12. (February 13, 2014)

Images of the Messiah

A star will come out of Jacob,
A scepter will rise out of Israel. (Numbers 24:17)

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)

To us a child is born, to us a son is given: and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name is called Pele-yo`ez-el-gibbor-avi-`ad-sar-shalom, for the increase of the realm and for peace without end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice: from henceforth for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts performs this. (Isaiah 9:6-7; Jewish translation, The Korèn Jerusalem Bible)

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit...
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples;
The nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1, 10)

See, my servant will act wisely;
he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him--
his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man
and his form marred beyond human likeness--
so will he sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him....
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground....
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities...
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all....
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
(Isaiah 52:13-15, 53:2,5-6,10)

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God. (Isaiah 61:1)

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)

Israel in Prophecy

We believe that Israel, the physical descendants of Jacob, was, is, and always will be God's covenant, chosen people.

We believe in both the spiritual restoration of Israel and its physical restoration to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as an everlasting possession, in literal fulfillment of prophecy regarding Israel's glorious future.

We believe that the re-establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and its full possession of Jerusalem since 1967 suggests a strong probability that these prophecies of Israel's return to the land are in process of fulfillment.

We believe that in the future King Messiah will regather all of Israel to the land and reign over the whole world from Jerusalem on the throne of David.